as in giant
unusually large
harvested a whacking number of zucchini from the garden
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in extremely
to a great degree
the clown wore a whacking big pair of shoes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in smacking
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
whacked the vending machine to get the candy bar to fall
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in murdering
slang
to put to death deliberately
without a second thought the mob boss had them whacked
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whacking
Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2025
New York put the screws to its division rival on Tuesday, whacking nine home runs to cruise to a 13-3 victory.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
In the ensuing melee, an overly aggressive security guard makes the mistake of whacking Hutch’s young daughter on the head.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2025
Verb
The robot showcased exemplary skills with the bat, whacking the ball precisely in a rally of over 100 shots with human-like agility.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 2025
New York put the screws to its division rival on Tuesday, whacking nine home runs to cruise to a 13-3 victory.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
In the ensuing melee, an overly aggressive security guard makes the mistake of whacking Hutch’s young daughter on the head.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whacking
Adjective
-
That move, however, allowed the giant exhibitor to fully redeem all of its 2026 debt maturities.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Generative, predictive, and other forms of AI collectively are projected to generate as much as $340 billion annually in value creation for the global banking sector, consulting giant McKinsey has estimated.—
John Kell,
Fortune,
5 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
In extremely dense fog where visibility is near zero, the best course of action is to first turn on your hazard lights, then simply pull into a safe location such as a parking lot of a local business, and stop.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Nineteenth-century reporters could be extremely casual with facts and guessed at the spelling of names.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
An arrest warrant has been issued for a high school football player accused of intentionally smacking one of his opponents on the head at their game, according to investigators in North Florida.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
5 Nov. 2025
-
In the season four premiere of Mayor of Kingstown, co-creators/writers Hugh Dillon and Taylor Sheridan waste no time smacking viewers with a sense of doom and gloom.—
Demetrius Patterson,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Johnson, Evans and Pascal – and while certainly thoughtful, the film's strengths are upended by a mood-murdering melancholy.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
In the worst killing spree in Germany’s post-war history, a former nurse was jailed in 2019 for life for murdering 85 of his patients.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
At the center of all the glitzy havoc—her face often looming on a huge flat screen that rolls around the stage, following actors like a hulking LED stalker—is of course Chenoweth.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Todd also had a huge sack in the fourth quarter.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
Saul wasn’t too silly to carry the drama, his arc was just too damn sad.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
6 Nov. 2025
-
And why is everyone so damn happy?—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The van reaches home ground and no one talks and the only sound along that final stretch is El Camello slapping himself to scare away mosquitoes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
First, rather than slapping a latex mask and makeup on Schuster-Koloamatangi, performance capture technology is used to have Dek’s face come alive with the actor’s expressions.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus a month ago today, has asked a judge for permission to wear civilian clothes in court and to appear without shackles and cuffs.—
Michael Ruiz , Lee Ross,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Casual killings at point-blank range, vicious motorcycle jackings, tossing someone off a building, assassinating the actual Mark Cuban (playing himself) — this, in the movie, is what the good guys do.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whacking. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share